The idea that you have to go to college in order to be a
respectable member of the middle class is “kind of weird” to Glenn
Reynolds. The professor of law at the University of
Tennessee and purveyor of the popular Instapundit blog,
says students and parents are starting to rethink the benefits of
higher education compared to the enormous costs associated with
it.
Even before the Internet,
Americans loved porn. In 1983, the three most popular nudie
magazines—Playboy, Penthouse, and Hustler—then ranked as the 14th, 17th, and 57th largest
magazines in America, distributing a combined 9 million copies each
month. The Playboy Channel, a pay-cable network devoted to the
finer things in life, was in more than 700,000 homes. The Adult
Film Association of America boasted that some 65 million X-rated
movies-back when that’s what they were called-were rented or
purchased in 1984. All without a single connection to the World
Wide Web. But while millions of Americans appreciated pornography,
their government didn’t. Three decades later, writes Reason Senior Editor Peter Suderman, the crusade against
pornography continues.
“Errol Morris on Donald Rumsfeld, The Unknown Known, and
Evidence-Based Journalism”, by Nick Gillespie and Jim Epstein, was
released on April 3, 2014. The original writeup follows:
Donald Rumsfeld’s “war crime,” says Oscar-winning filmmaker
Errol Morris, is “the gobbledygook, the blizzard of words, the
misdirections, the evasions…and ultimately at the heart of it
all…the disregard and devaluation of evidence.”
The former secretary of defense’s complicated relationship with
the truth is the subject of Morris’ new
documentary, The Unknown
Known, which opens in theaters nationwide on Friday,
April 4.The Unknown Known is an extended conversation
with Rumsfeld, tracing his long career through the Nixon, Ford,
Reagan, and Bush administrations, and focusing on his role in
leading U.S. military forces into Iraq to fight a bloody and
senseless war.
In the film, Morris engages in a verbal sparring session with
Rumsfeld in an effort to break through the linguistic “evasions”
and “gobbledygook” for which he’s known.
The title of the film comes from Rumsfeld’s response to a
question by NBC reporter Jim Miklaszewski at a Pentagon news
conference on February 12, 2002. When Miklaszewski asked Rumsfeld
if there was any evidence that Iraq was supplying terrorists with
weapons, Rumsfeld replied:
Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always
interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns;
there are things we know we know. We also know there are known
unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not
know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know
we don’t know.
In a
four-part series in The New York
Times titled “The Certainty of Donald Rumsfeld,” Morris
wrote: “Many people believe Rumsfeld’s reply was brilliant. I think
otherwise.”
The Unknown Known is Errol Morris’ 10th
documentary feature. He’s also the author of two best-selling books
and the director of over 1,000 TV commercials. Much of Morris’ work
explores, as he puts it, “how people prefer untruth to truth” and
how they’re “blinded by their own spurious convictions.”
Reason TV‘s Nick Gillespie sat down for an extended
chat with Morris about The Unknown Known. They
discussed, among other things, the difference between Rumsfeld and
Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, whose complicated
relationship with his own mistakes is the subject of Morris’
Oscar-winning film, The Fog of War;
Morris’ take on the Jeffrey MacDonald murder case, which was the
subject of his book, A
Wilderness of Error; how Obama compares to Bush; his
friendships with Roger Ebert and Werner Herzog; and why “we’re all
morons.”
Gillespie conducted the interview using an “interrotron,”
a device Morris invented, which projects an interviewer’s face over
the camera lens. It creates the impression that the subject is
looking directly into the eyes of the viewer.
Ever since the invention of the still camera nearly two
centuries ago, the art of photography has been in a never-ending
state of change and adaptation. Through every kind of cultural and
technological upheaval, creative photographers have always found
new ways to inform, delight, and shock the public.
Today, in
the heavily-bombed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan,
photography is taking on a new role: defending an entire village
from the possibility of an American drone strike. A group of
artists, working with Reprieve/Foundation for
Fundamental Rights, has made a single portrait of a child
that’s so massive, its every detail can be seen by predator drones
hovering over the region.
The project, called #NotABugSplat, takes its name from
the dehumanizing view of Pakistani landscape, as seen by drone
pilots. The oversized symbol of human innocence both warns against
future strikes and serves as memorial to
the nearly 200 children who’ve been killed in strikes since
2004.
The installation also stands in contrast to more traditional
forms of war photography. Although the content, purpose, and
intended audience of #NotABugSplat are worlds apart from the
photographs featured in daily news coverage of the region, the
effect is just as unsettling.
On August 2nd, 2013, Reason TV took a close look at the work of
Michael Kamber and Louie Palu, two prominent photojournalists
who’ve chronicled the past decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Like #NotABugSplat, the images of Kamber and Palu put a human face
on an otherwise remote and heavily censored conflict.
Original text follows:
“We were supposed to go into Iraq, hold elections, turn over the
keys, and get out,” says Michael Kamber, a photojournalist and
editor of the book Photojournalists on War: The Untold Stories from
Iraq. “That’s not how it works, and we need to think about that
next time we get involved in a military adventure.”
It is almost impossible to read Kamber’s new book without
reflecting on how many of its photographs were taken by people who
were either killed, severely injured, or taken captive during the
conflict. Kamber, who photographed the war over a ten year period,
counts himself among the survivors. His book is a testament not
only to eight years of brutal warfare, but to the 39 photographers
whose work is represented in its pages.
ReasonTV sat down with Kamber at WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY, an exhibit at
the Corcoran Gallery of Art, to hear the stories behind the
unforgettable photographs in his book. It’s an in-depth account of
the Iraq War from photojournalists who witnessed key events at
close range.
Many of the the book’s 160 images have been widely distributed,
their impact indelibly marked in the American mind. Other images,
which are just as powerful, have rarely been seen.
“Photojournalists on War” also includes compelling eyewitness
accounts of battles, the disintegration of soldiers’ marriages, and
the lasting effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.
While Kamber’s book chronicles the work of photojournalists who
were mostly backed by major publications, images of war are
increasingly made by enterprising individuals. In 2006,
photojournalist Louie Palu quit his job and traveled to Afghanistan
at his own risk and on his own dime. He had never covered a war
before. Working without the support — or the constraints — of an
editor meant that he was able to photograph with plenty of of
artistic freedom. His images are stunning, and it’s no surprise
that his series of portraits and panoramic black-and-white shots
reveal an Afghanistan that looks very different from most press
photography.
Palu is also producing “The Durrani Kings” a documentary about
his experiences photographing Kandahar province, the birthplace of
the Taliban.
Both Palu and Kamber remain skeptical of the wars they
witnessed. Broken promises and official censorship have led to a
public that remains poorly informed about war’s devastating effects
on ordinary civilians.
It’s often said that the truth is always the first casualty of
war. The images of Kamber and Palu are attempts to correct the
record.
The Corcoran exhibit continues until September 29.
Separatist protesters in the eastern Ukrainian city of
Slovyansk have taken over the city hall and the local Ukrainian
secret service (SBU) headquarters after earlier taking control of a
police station.
Disturbances have also been reported in other eastern Ukrainian
towns of Krasny Lyman and Kramatorsk.
The regional police chief in Ukraine’s eastern industrial
Donetsk Oblast has resigned amid pro-Russian protests in the
regional capital, Donetsk.
Noting similarities between the current attack and the one in
Crimea last month, the Kyiv Post
writes that the situation “looks like a special Russian
military operation” conducted by “masked men in army fatigues and
bulletproof vests, armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles.” The Post adds that local officials may have facilitated the
offensive:
The swiftness and scope of today’s attacks, as well as the
support of the armed takeovers by the mayor of Sloviansk, suggest
that the operation was planned well in advance and had support from
within the ranks of Ukraine’s government, including its law
enforcement agencies, in Donetsk Oblast.
The Telegraph‘s Moscow correspondent Roland Oliphant is
live-tweeting
about passing through check points guarded by armed men. He snapped
a photo of one masked gunmen, who showed off medals he
claimed to receive fighting for Russia in Afghanistan.
Time reports that
some participants are wearing the uniforms of Berkut, a notorious
riot police force that the pro-western government disbanded for its
role in brutalizing and killing civilians under orders from the
previous president earlier this year.
Earlier this week separatists stormed government buildings,
demanding secession referendums. They quickly abandoned most of
them, but in one case the separatists allegedly
took 60 hostages and wired the building with
explosives.
Ever since he was a pre-teen, Jimmy LaSalvia
carried the banner for the Republican Party. A gay man, he
eventually founded GOProud, an organization for conservative and
libertarian activists who argue for “all Americans to be treated
equally under the law.” But in January he left the Republican
Party, an exit he blames on entrenched bigotry within its ranks. We
asked LaSalvia to give us three reasons why the GOP is in
trouble.
So you say Bitcoin just isn’t secure enough for your
crypto-currency needs? PotCoin won’t buy you tickets to that
horrorcore rap concert you’ve been yearning to attend? And Dogecoin
is, um, just too doge-y?
Fret no longer, would-be anonymous libertarian digital shopper
with a tongue-in-cheek hatchet fetish. Because there can never be
enough crypto-currencies out there to satisfy every fleeting retail
impulse, now there is… JuggaloCoin.
That’s right, folks, JuggaloCoin is the first currency
specifically tailored to meet the growing needs of Insane Clown
Posse fans. Soon you’ll be able to purchase countless tubs of Moon
Mist Faygo and crates of Hatchet Gear merch, secure in the
knowledge that your money will go to a vendor who’s down with the
clown.
By keeping funds in the family, loyal ICP fans will help to grow
the clown economy. And I’m not talking about Greece.
How can you fill your wallet with JuggaloCoins? One way is to
pay for them, of course, which you can do with just about any other
kind of crypto-currency. And the best part is, they accept
Dogecoins!
Do you have any idea what I’m talking about here? Does talk of
Floobs, pseudonymous virtual specie, and face-painted Jugalettes
cause more confusion than Shaggy 2 Dope at a Mitch McConnell
fundraiser?
Frankly, I’m not sure that I get it, either. Fortunately,
there’s no better introduction to the nutty nitty gritty and the
insane ins-and-outs of Juggalo culture than Reason TV’s March 5,
2014 story: “Juggalos vs. the FBI: Why Insane Clown Posse Fans Are
Not a Gang”. Watch and learn.
Whoop whoop!
Original text follows:
You may already know Juggalos, the fans of Detroit horrorcore
rap group Insane Clown Posse (ICP), from Buzzfeed lists, television
shows like Workaholics, or music videos like “Juggalo Island.” But,
you may not know that Juggalos are one of the best examples of a
self reliant (but demonized) community.
Juggalos began to garner a lot of mainstream attention in 2011
when they were classified as a “hybrid gang” by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) in their National Gang Threat Assessment
report. The report says Juggalos could “exhibit gang-like behavior
and engage in criminal activity and violence.”
Juggalos at the 2013 Gathering of the Juggalos, a music festival
held in Cave-in-Rock, Illinois, told Reason TV that they disputed
the claims made by the FBI.
“That’s stereotyping pretty much,” said one Juggalo. “You know
people who don’t listen to the music or are not a fan or a family
are going to think we are violent people when they see hatchet men
[emblem of Juggalos] or Juggalo stuff.”
Insane Clown Posse’s members, Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J, agree
and are suing the FBI along with the American Civil Liberties Union
of Michigan, claiming that profiling Juggalos as a gang violates
Juggalos’ constitutional right to express themselves. Further, the
gang classification could subject Juggalos to routine stops,
detainment, and interrogation by local and federal law enforcement
based solely on their music preferences.
“I think it’s ridiculous to consider the Juggalos a gang,” says
journalist Camille Dodero, who has written about Juggalos and
Insane Clown Posse for Gawker and the Village Voice. “In some ways
it’s almost ironic. These are a group of people that no one else in
America has ever cared about and then this one band gave them a
sense of identity–like it was a support group.”
Dodero says Juggalos often come from lower class backgrounds and
although some of them commit crimes, not all of them do.
“And that’s not to say that there are that many kids doing it.
It just so happened that somebody caught onto the fact that those
kids who have that hatchet man sometimes steal things,” says
Dodero. “That is part of who ICP has been reaching though, people
with really bad upbringings.”
ICP, who grew up in lower class households just like their fans,
have targeted victims as their audience. These include kids who
were homeless, came from an abusive family, or were molested. The
result is a world where these young people have escaped the life
they were dealt for a supportive community they’ve helped create.
One they lovingly refer to as “family.”
The FBI said it could not comment on pending litigation, but the
effects of the gang label may have already impacted the next
Gathering of the Juggalos. The 2014 music festival had to change
locations multiple times thanks in part to the fears of local
residents, fears Insane Clown Posse has said are associated with
the gang classification.
School lunches still stink. But now unprecedented
numbers of students are refusing to eat them. Last month Baylen
Linnekin noted that a GAO report had found that last school year’s
disastrous rollout of the updated USDA National School Lunch
Program helped drive 1.6 million paying students from the lunch
rolls. The new rules led some schools to abandon the program, as
Linnekin reported in 2012. What’s more, the new rules, championed
by First Lady Michelle Obama, have also resulted in unprecedented
mountains of food waste.
In response, the federal government has decided that these
abject failures are evidence of a need to double down on the school
lunch program. Why scrap a failing program when you can expand it
instead?
At some point, you have to think that it’s going to occur to
people that the United States government seems neither willing nor
able to stop borrowing, and to start paying the sum down, even a
little bit.
The “stop borrowing” part would be a good start. But that’s a lot of money to pay back.
Jeb Bush fans argue that his resume is exactly what the GOP
needs. His wife is Latina. He speaks Spanish at home. He’s not a
knee-jerk Republican. He supports Common Core State Standards. He
gets things done.
Debra J. Saunders sees the appeal. But, she argues, it would be
a mistake to vote for this Bush in the 2016 primaries. Like Mitt
Romney, he cannot win a general election. Both guys look great on
paper, but when voters look at either former governor, they can’t
get past the perception that they are gazing at a son of privilege
and a creature of the establishment. Worse, both former governors
think they’re some kind of underdogs.